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| Friday, 2 July 2004 |
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Sports | |
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Sailing into the future by Rohan Pethiyagoda Considering how little known the sport of sailing is in Sri Lanka, it is difficult to imagine that it has been around since the late 1890s, when the Royal Colombo Yacht Club was established, through a royal charter under the hand of Queen Victoria. Since then, the sport has come a long way. Two further sailing clubs have been established (the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club and the Navy Sailing Club), and another flourished at Darawela, on the banks of Castlereagh Reservoir, until the late 1970s when the last of the British tea planters quit the island. Although many of Sri Lanka's present-day sailors have their roots in Europe, it is one of the sports in which our nation has truly excelled. The island boasts two Asian Games medallists, Ray Wijewardene (silver) and Lalin Jirasinha (bronze). Not just they, but many other Sri Lankan sailors have fared very well in the international arena, including the Olympics. The sport received a shot in the arm by the decision last year of the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka to help establish a new fleet of Optimist class dinghies for children under 16. There are upwards of 20 Optimist sailors in the Association's squad now, under regular training by national coach Lalin Jirasinha, who makes no bones about fielding a medal-winning team at the 2006 Asian Games. "More than half the sailing medallists at the 2000 Sydney Olympics were former Optimist sailors," says Jirasinha, "Which goes to prove that this is an excellent grounding for young sailors." The surge in participation by youth in the sport has not been lost on the corporate world either, and several companies have stepped in to offer support, including two prominent members of the John Keells group, Elephant House and P & O Nedlloyd. This growing prominence has led also to Sri Lanka becoming a venue for international sailing events, including the South Asian Yachting Regatta, due to take place in Bolgoda on 1-4 July, and the Enterprise World Championship, billed to be sailed on the seas off Negombo next February. Both these events are expected to draw some of the world's best sailors to our shores, giving national sailors much-needed experience. Meanwhile, there are regular club-level races every Sunday at Bolgoda, with as many as 40 boats on the water, making a spectacular display. "Sailing is one of the greatest youth sports available," says national coach Jirasinha. "It blends physical and mental fitness with independence and a spirit of adventure. It is a great sight to see a nine-year old take over a boat all on his or her own and learn to use the wind to sail, race and win. And I say "his or her" not just to be gender correct: almost half the youth-class sailors are girls, and they give the boys a good run for their money!" Learning to sail is no more difficult than learning to ride a bicycle, and arguably a lot more fun. Something that deters many aspirants is the cost, but here the Yachting Association has stepped in and helped the sport through a leasing scheme which means that a young sailor can be on the water for an outlay of about Rs. 50,000. The bigger GP-14 and Enterprise class boats are, of course, a lot more expensive, but here again there is a good prospect of reducing costs by building boats locally. In fact, a locally-built GP-14 sailed by Anil and Michelle Gunawardana beat 23 imported boats in a major race just last Sunday, and by a handsome margin, too. The boat itself was made at the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club's yard in Indibedda by local craftsmen. The sport is due for yet another fillip with the imminent completion of the Royal Colombo Yacht Club's new clubhouse at Mt. Lavinia, next-door to the Lifesaving Association. This will provide sea-sailing opportunities during much of the year, something that has been lacking in the local scene since the club had to quit the harbour in the 1980s for port-expansion and security reasons. With so much sailing on the agenda for the coming year, Sri Lanka is poised to become a major hub for the sport in South Asia. "Singapore boasts more than 500 sailors, almost half of them in the youth classes... and we're catching up fast!" says Ananda Wimaladharma, President of the National Yachting Association. "The children are out practising every Saturday and Sunday, and they are as competitive as you can get. Sailing is an excellent medal prospect for Sri Lanka in 2006". |
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